He would've been an all-time great, but for

[haleyrules]

Danny White should have been an all time great along with Don Meredith. Simple. They had the real talent if nothing else.

 

[TheHerd]

Kevin "Pup" Smith. He was a shutdown corner that dominated everyone, including Jerry Rice. Tore his Achilles and was JAG.

One of my faves. I have two shirts, Ware and K. Smith.

 

[jaybird]

good one!

I disagree, love RW, bi

As is my norm for longer than I care to admit, I often get caught up in watching massive quantities of nostalgic Cowboys footage during the offseason, whether it be old games OR highlight reels from NFL films, etc. I am sure many of you can relate.

This week, I rewatched for the umpteenth time The Great Wall of Dallas - by far one of the best segments of that SB era as it captured the essence of the team's success and the 90's dynasty's true identity...and frankly their style of play gives hope for our current squad's potential success (i.e., multiple championships on the back of the the NFL's best offensive line). I LOVE ME SOME SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL!!!

During the segment, Michael Irvin commented on Erik Williams and the auto accident he suffered after the 93 SB season which likely robbed us of a 3rd straight SB the following season...anyone remembering that 94 NFC championship game should recall the beating Troy took due to a woefully depleted Oline not only missing Big E but also suffering from a Larry Allen injury that SF exploited throughout the contest - it thwarted our comeback in my view. That accident also ended Big E's dominance as the game's best tackle - he was never the same player after that incident. As an aside, that's another unfortunate similarity between that 90's team and today's...knuckleheads doing stupid off-field BS...although the 90's team was arguably much worse.

Mike went on to state that, BUT FOR his injury, Erik Williams would have gone down as one of the greatest offensive linemen to ever play and a certain first ballot HOF'er...I certainly agree with that assessment.

Which leads me to my question: what other Cowboy players most stand out to you in that category (i.e., potential all-time great but for an injury, off-field issue, tragic flaw, etc) and why?

To get the discussion flowing...these players also come to mind for me:

1) Duane Thomas
2) Hollywood Henderson

Randy Hughes comes to mind, would have been a great safety, couldnt keep his shoulder in heathy

 

[robbieruff]

I disagree, love RW, bi

Randy Hughes comes to mind, would have been a great safety, couldnt keep his shoulder in heathy

Not sure I am following...are you saying RW in fact WAS an all-time great?

Yes...Randy was a great athlete plagued by injury...I remember the Divisional Playoff game in 1979 (Roger's last) when the Rams hit on a hail mary pass right at the end of the 1st half to extend their lead and gain all the momentum despite our statistical dominance. That play was essentially successful due to Randy's inability to raise his arm to knock down the pass (based on post-game interviews). His career fizzled soon thereafter. High point SB XII, though.

 

[robbieruff]

Danny White should have been an all time great along with Don Meredith. Simple. They had the real talent if nothing else.

I preferred Don to Danny...incredible deep ball...just couldn't fit into the Landry culture even though other "free spirits" (Walt Garrison) seem to be able to...

 

[TheCoolFan]

Antonio Bryant...easily.

 

[jaybird]

Not sure I am following...are you saying RW in fact WAS an all-time great?

Yes...Randy was a great athlete plagued by injury...I remember the Divisional Playoff game in 1979 (Roger's last) when the Rams hit on a hail mary pass right at the end of the 1st half to extend their lead and gain all the momentum despite our statistical dominance. That play was essentially successful due to Randy's inability to raise his arm to knock down the pass (based on post-game interviews). His career fizzled soon thereafter. High point SB XII, though.

Hit send accidenty
I like RW early on. But it's obivouis Woodson mast his weekness' He was average at best playing without Woodson

 

[timb2]

Jesse Penn I liked a lot!! He was a good athlete and had a attitude but with Tom Landry he always wanted these cerebral linebackers.I think Hollywood Henderson scared him away from fiery players. Penn got a neck injury and that was it....Same for Devonte Holloman he was a keeper and a neck injury did him in.

 

[BAT]

Indeed...in the "A Football Life" on Jimmy Johnson (watched it as well recently...yeah, I miss football...lol), both Troy and Michael discussed winning a minimum of 5 SB's had he stayed...Big E was one of the first casualties of that debacle. Couldn't agree more with your other points.

Troy and Mike don't know what they're talking about, Jimmy was simply lucky. Just ask waving Monkey, Asthma, Idjit and that other guy. They have stats, opinions and oh, the Jerry factor too.

 

[ghst187]

Troy Hambrick. Except for a serious lack of talent. Ditto Quincy carter.
Leon Lett except for a lack of brains
Jimmy Williams except for ill timed injuries
Jay Ratliff except for a lack of class

 

[BermyStar]

Not a Cowboy and in fact played for an archenemy, but every time this conversation comes up in any circle the first name that comes to mind is Sean Taylor. Commander or not, dude was a monster!

 

[AmericanCowboy]

Anthony Henry if he played his whole career like the first 4 games of the 2007 season.

Too bad he was awful after that.

 

[Cowboys_22]

Although Calvin Hill had a very good career, injuries throughout his career kept him from reaching his full potential.
He could have possibly been a HOFer.

Go Cowboys!

 

[casmith07]

Roy Williams 31.

People say he found religion and got married or no longer had Woodson idk what the real reason was. He was a top 3 safety by the end of his rookie season. I've never seen someone fall off the way he did. He was the most ferocious hitter I've seen in my 20 years as a fan and went completely soft very abruptly.

He just didn't like football anymore. He's already said it before. Rule changes and Parcells made the game no longer fun for him.

 

[CCBoy]

He just didn't like football anymore. He's already said it before. Rule changes and Parcells made the game no longer fun for him.

Lol, football is definitely a sport that one has to have his heart into...

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Bob Carpenter would have been an all-time great but for tackling...

 

[LocimusPrime]

Stepfret williams would have been an all time great except for skill.

His lack of skill kept him from being a hall of famer.

 

[TheFinisher]

I know his name strikes a nerve with Cowboy fans but I sure would have liked to see that Joey Galloway-Troy Aikman plan come to fruition. Galloway gets hurt before he even gets started here, and Aikman gets knocked out and retires by the end of that season.

After that, Galloway was forced to play with utter trash for QB here and wasted the prime of his career... he was like Antonio Brown but with 4.17 deep speed.

Still managed to put up 10,000 yards and 80 TDs for his career... underrated player. That speed was legendary.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I know his name strikes a nerve with Cowboy fans but I sure would have liked to see that Joey Galloway-Troy Aikman plan come to fruition. Galloway gets hurt before he even gets started here, and Aikman gets knocked out and retires by the end of that season.

After that, Galloway was forced to play with utter trash for QB here and wasted the prime of his career... he was like Antonio Brown but with 4.17 deep speed.

Still managed to put up 10,000 yards and 80 TDs for his career... underrated player. That speed was legendary.

Yep, beat me to it.

Galloway was absolutely electric in Seattle and would have been in Dallas had things not unraveled for him (ACL in first game) and the franchise (Aikman retiring early) so epically. Look no further to fact he got traded to Tampa with halfway decent QBs and immediately reeled off three straight 1,000+ yard seasons at age 34 to 36.

 

[Floatyworm]

Would have been an all time great if it weren't for Guard Jared Smith...